New Contest!! Starts 7-31-21. See Page 5 for Details- Prizes are free CGC grading for the winners. All boardies in good standing can enter! 4 4

[electricprune]

On 8/2/2021 at 5:38 PM, Cushing Fan said:

First of all,, a big congratulations on your winning in the CGC registry set! Western comics are certainly not as popular as superhero books but I love them just the same. The action and mood of the wild west always enthralled me as a kid watching western films with my Dad. He liked the Duke while I enjoyed the more gritty Italian westerns, especially the Sergio Leone films. I'm still a big fan of Lee Van Cleef AKA Angel Eyes and my favorite films with him are Death Rides a Horse and For a Few Dollars More. My interest in westerns transferred from film to comic books and I love this particular western book in my collection a lot - to me it has everything that makes a great western scene - a Saloon, a card game gone wrong and most of all a gunfight - this one featuring the Card Sharp Killer! It also helps that the great artist L.B. Cole drew the cover and really made all the action come alive.

This is good! This is VERY Good! Even though I lean towards Bronze, I like Western books.

[electricprune]

On 8/3/2021 at 4:11 PM, Jesse-Lee said:

Ok, I'm going to attempt to make the case for a less-popular run-filler issue from one of the most popular titles of all time: Batman. I've told this story in some form before, but this contest gave me the opportunity to sit down and draft out a little essay about it, which is something I've been wanting to do for my kids to try and get them into comics as they're getting older, or at least to give them a little sense of what instilled a love of comics in me from their grandpa and great-grandpa.

Sorry it's really long, but thanks for indulging me. And thanks for the fun contest, I love reading people's stories!

Batman Vol. 1 #209 “Jungle Jeopardy” – DC Comics – February 1969

Julius Schwartz, Editor | Frank Robbins, Story | Irv Novick, Pencils and Cover | Joe Giella, Inks

Overview (from the DC Database):

"Jungle Jeopardy" – Hired by the gang lords of Gotham to put Batman and Robin out of action, Mr. Esper (note: Who?? What an unpopular character!), alias "Brainwash,” lures the two heroes to a bank robbery where he can implant a subliminal device beneath the Batmobile. Using the machine, Esper forces the heroes to return to the Batcave, where they are induced to see it as transformed into an African jungle, with wild animals threatening them.

I was around seven years old when I first discovered my love of comics. I was a voracious reader as a kid. I’d read anything I could get my hands on – even encyclopedia volumes – but I was partial to mystery books like the Hardy Boys and Trixie Belden.

Some time around 1985, while at my grandparents’ house, grandma said she had something to show me. She'd been cleaning in the basement, and she brought out a carboard box about the size of an egg crate. Inside the box was a stack of comics – they were books that my grandpa and dad bought, read and then held on to over the years.

I was aware of comics of course, and especially of superheroes. I loved Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk, Batman and Robin, Superman. But as much as I loved reading, I had never really read comic books – why would I do that when I could watch the Super Friends in action or see Lou Ferrigno bring the Hulk to life?

Most of the comics in the box were war stories or beat up Gold Key issues of Tarzan, not of much interest to me. But as I dug through, I hit gold – superheroes!

Many of the books were missing the top half of the front cover. At that time, retailers – like the general store where my grandpa and dad would have bought most of their books – would receive their monthly comic issues from a distributor with the understanding that any unsold copies could be returned for credit, and those issues were supposed to be destroyed. The sellers weren’t required to return the entire comics for credit though; they just had to send back the top half or third of the front cover as proof that they had destroyed the inventory and they’d receive their credit – a process often called “stripped cover returns.” The retailer was then supposed to destroy the books themselves, but what happened most often is that the store owner would sell the half-covered comics at a discount.

A few of the comics in the box still had their entire covers intact, and as I thumbed through them, one caught my eye and captured my imagination: Batman #209.

The cover is a stark black with a bright red and yellow Batman logo splashed across the top third of the page. In the foreground, on the bottom of the cover, Robin kneels to investigate a series of animal tracks on the ground (as a kid I thought they were on the moon, but it appears they’re just on yellow sand) and exclaims, “Batman! Who’s making these tiger tracks?” Batman stands menacingly over the Boy Wonder, his fingers curled into hooks and his cape flowing behind him, bearing the head of a tiger, with tiger-like feet and claws ripping through his boots.

It’s a beautiful and fantastical piece of art, drawn by the talented Irv Novick (as is the rest of the issue). The clean lines and expressive faces and poses are evident throughout Novick’s body of work, and especially his covers, on titles like Batman, Our Army at War, The Brave and the Bold and Wonder Woman.

I’ve studied that cover a lot – the hard lines of Batman’s fingers giving them a look of iron strength, the perspective of Robin’s hand, reaching out as though it will come off the page, the frightening expression and sharp teeth of the Caped Crusader’s tiger head – it all comes together to draw in the reader and make them want to open the book to learn what fate might befall Richard Grayson.

It’s ultimately a lie; Batman doesn’t turn into a tiger at all in the issue. But I didn’t care – I was hooked. I met the evil Brainwash (revealed to be the villain Mr. Esper, who first appeared in Detective Comics #352), set on destroying the Dynamic Duo through a mind-control scheme that made them believe the Batcave was an African jungle filled with dangerous animals like tigers and elephants. I marveled at the Batmobile and worried along with Alfred and Commissioner Gordon as they tried to alert Batman and Robin to the plot that was unfolding.

I had discovered a new way to see my heroes in action, and I had to have more. Luckily, the box was full of adventures starring the Avengers, Spider-Man, the X-Men, Superman and many others.

That original copy survived readings by my dad (this issue was most likely his, but I'm sure my grandpa flipped through it too, although I think he was the one who leaned toward the war comics), and somehow miraculously survived the multiple page-throughs and mishandlings by seven-year-old me as well. Last year, I was lucky to score a much nicer copy on eBay, and I now have both in my collection.

As far as “Holy Grails” go, it’s not a very high standard. I bought my new copy for $15.

It's not the most popular issue (), or any kind of "key." But this is the book that started it all for me. This issue cemented my love of comics, and it holds an even more special place because it’s evidence of three generations’ worth of fascination with stories and superheroes.

###

Here's a pic of my dad's original copy. It makes me really nervous to imagine that specific one out of my possession for any amount of time, but I also included a pic with my upgraded copy as well, which if that one was graded, I would display them side-by-side - the original raw and the new graded copy.

Good one, you're in!

[electricprune]

On 8/2/2021 at 3:13 PM, Crops068 said:

Ok mine was really a no brainer for me. As I have most of this character's primary appearances raw already.  Unlike Thanos, whom a few of us boardies, @djpinkpanther67 as an example, are collecting each one and have catalogued each one meticulously.  I have not spent the time researching this character, maybe I should?

Back in my teenage years I went to a LCS, it is still there and has 3 locations in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia called Jersey’s Cards and Comics.  I spent many a day and night there gaming and reading/talking about comics.  I attribute much of the adult I became thanks to that shop and the owner, Bruce and his brother, Ray.  

I would talk to them about books and what was a good read, this one week, Ray talked up a specific book and I ran with it.  The #1 cover is a skull with a lenticular disk on it in the eye socket, which I thought was really cool, and the guy had a really different power, at least to me. The ability to die over and over but each time he came back from the dead he had a new power and never gets that power again. This could and did lead to some odd adventures for him.  

The issue that really captured my attention was when he was forced to team up with a hitman in vol.1 issue #10.  The hitman found out his power and proceeded to kill him over and over until he had something useful for the mission ahead of them.  This was my 1st outing of collecting a full run.  I am only missing a couple issues, mainly just never looked for them, I am sure I could find the 2 I am missing pretty easily.

So of by now you have not guessed, my uncommon character/series is Resurrection Man.  His initial series ran for 27 reg issues and a spect 1 million issue with him coming back with New 52 running for a mere 13 issues.

  Hide contents

Here is my #1 (which I would send in)

 

I have to admit, I'm not even familiar with this character. So that's a good start! Nice cover too. And a djpinkpanther reference, excellent.

Edited August 5, 2021 by electricprune

[electricprune]

Two more days to enter. What do you have to lose, besides being publicly humiliated on the boards?

[nepatkm]

Congratulations! @electricprune on winning one of the registry best sets. Awesome Vigilante set.  Well deserved! 

[Crops068]

Just a little over 12.5hrs to join this most excellent of contests.

Like what are you waiting for?????

[electricprune]

Crops is correct! This is an excellent time to fully embarrass yourself on the boards.

I have to be out of town tonight. So I’m going to extend the entries until 1 PM Eastern time tomorrow. Results still announced tomorrow night.

[Qalyar]

Oooh, a contest based on collecting stuff no one else cares about? Right up my alley.

Labyrinth and Dark Crystal are great films, and aren't unpopular at all. On the other hand, their comic book adaptations... What's that, you say? The original Labyrinth comic adaptation, Marvel Super Special #40, is a fairly interesting book that (like most of the Super Specials) can be tough at high grades? Well, that's true. But this isn't about Marvel Super Special #40. It's also not about the three-issue Labyrinth mini-series, either in direct market or newsstand. It's not even about any of Boom!'s Labyrinth spinoffs, although they've got plenty of convention covers and obscure promotional pieces that might qualify.

No, my entry in this contest is... this:

The sane first response is to ask what is that thing? So, Tokypop -- the manga publisher -- got the rights to do a manga-format spinoff of both Dark Crystal and Labyrinth, titled Legends of the Dark Crystal and Return to Labyrinth, respectively. Those are big, chonky manga books that can't be slabbed due to size. About the same time, Sony Pictures decided to release a three DVD box set, including those two films plus Mirrormask. It was a match made in marketing. Tokypop published this stiff cardboard cover preview flipbook -- from one side, an excerpt from their upcoming Legends of the Dark Crystal manga, and from the other side, a similar excerpt from Return to Labyrinth. Sony slipped the books into the box set's slipcase, and tacked a hastily-printed note to the back of the box saying that it included an exclusive preview comic. Presto -- a collectible, of a sort, is born.

This is deep in obscurity. The other books presented so far? Batman #209? 117 slabbed copies. Resurrection Man #1? 17 slabs, not counting the second printing. Western Crime Cases #4 -- okay, I'll give you that's a pretty unloved book right there -- still has four. This baby? Not on the census at all!

But I'm willing to concede that slab count (and total lack of market value...) may not be enough to push this advertising promo of a manga spinoff of a movie into the winner's circle. There's another reason I think it deserves its turn in encapsulation: its brother is lonely.

You see, early the following year, Sony decided to release a second batch of that 3 disc DVD box set. But in the interim, the first volume of the Legends of the Dark Crystal manga had actually released, so the preview flipbook wasn't technically a preview anymore. As a result, when Sony asked Tokyopop for another round of flipbooks, they hastily prepared a second version, with the excerpt of Legends of the Dark Crystal swapped out for an excerpt of Legends of the Dark Crystal volume 2! The two have very different cover designs, but are indistinguishable when viewed edge-on (like in sealed box sets). What does any of that have to do with this contest? Well...

I already have the second one slabbed.

You can probably count on your elbows the number of people in the world who care about these weird, obscure, promotional books. For what it's worth, they are quite hard to find, and survival rates from DVD set purchasers are approximately nil. MCS has only ever seen one copy of the first one, and zero of the second. But don't just think of this book for its rarity, its obscurity, its total lack of market value, or the lack of interest pretty much anyone has for movie spinoff spinoff promotionals. Think of this as your opportunity to help two long-separated relatives find happiness together in my slabbed collection of Labyrinth comics (and eventually this Registry set).

[onlyweaknesskryptonite]

On 8/10/2021 at 12:52 PM, Qalyar said:

Oooh, a contest based on collecting stuff no one else cares about? Right up my alley.

Labyrinth and Dark Crystal are great films, and aren't unpopular at all. On the other hand, their comic book adaptations... What's that, you say? The original Labyrinth comic adaptation, Marvel Super Special #40, is a fairly interesting book that (like most of the Super Specials) can be tough at high grades? Well, that's true. But this isn't about Marvel Super Special #40. It's also not about the three-issue Labyrinth mini-series, either in direct market or newsstand. It's not even about any of Boom!'s Labyrinth spinoffs, although they've got plenty of convention covers and obscure promotional pieces that might qualify.

No, my entry in this contest is... this:

The sane first response is to ask what is that thing? So, Tokypop -- the manga publisher -- got the rights to do a manga-format spinoff of both Dark Crystal and Labyrinth, titled Legends of the Dark Crystal and Return to Labyrinth, respectively. Those are big, chonky manga books that can't be slabbed due to size. About the same time, Sony Pictures decided to release a three DVD box set, including those two films plus Mirrormask. It was a match made in marketing. Tokypop published this stiff cardboard cover preview flipbook -- from one side, an excerpt from their upcoming Legends of the Dark Crystal manga, and from the other side, a similar excerpt from Return to Labyrinth. Sony slipped the books into the box set's slipcase, and tacked a hastily-printed note to the back of the box saying that it included an exclusive preview comic. Presto -- a collectible, of a sort, is born.

This is deep in obscurity. The other books presented so far? Batman #209? 117 slabbed copies. Resurrection Man #1? 17 slabs, not counting the second printing. Western Crime Cases #4 -- okay, I'll give you that's a pretty unloved book right there -- still has four. This baby? Not on the census at all!

But I'm willing to concede that slab count (and total lack of market value...) may not be enough to push this advertising promo of a manga spinoff of a movie into the winner's circle. There's another reason I think it deserves its turn in encapsulation: its brother is lonely.

You see, early the following year, Sony decided to release a second batch of that 3 disc DVD box set. But in the interim, the first volume of the Legends of the Dark Crystal manga had actually released, so the preview flipbook wasn't technically a preview anymore. As a result, when Sony asked Tokyopop for another round of flipbooks, they hastily prepared a second version, with the excerpt of Legends of the Dark Crystal swapped out for an excerpt of Legends of the Dark Crystal volume 2! The two have very different cover designs, but are indistinguishable when viewed edge-on (like in sealed box sets). What does any of that have to do with this contest? Well...

I already have the second one slabbed.

You can probably count on your elbows the number of people in the world who care about these weird, obscure, promotional books. For what it's worth, they are quite hard to find, and survival rates from DVD set purchasers are approximately nil. MCS has only ever seen one copy of the first one, and zero of the second. But don't just think of this book for its rarity, its obscurity, its total lack of market value, or the lack of interest pretty much anyone has for movie spinoff spinoff promotionals. Think of this as your opportunity to help two long-separated relatives find happiness together in my slabbed collection of Labyrinth comics (and eventually this Registry set).

[Qalyar]

On 8/10/2021 at 1:38 PM, onlyweaknesskryptonite said:

I'm a Muppet, you know what I mean...

[onlyweaknesskryptonite]

On 8/10/2021 at 2:24 PM, Qalyar said:

I'm a Muppet, you know what I mean...

[Crops068]

On 8/10/2021 at 12:52 PM, Qalyar said:

Oooh, a contest based on collecting stuff no one else cares about? Right up my alley.

Labyrinth and Dark Crystal are great films, and aren't unpopular at all. On the other hand, their comic book adaptations... What's that, you say? The original Labyrinth comic adaptation, Marvel Super Special #40, is a fairly interesting book that (like most of the Super Specials) can be tough at high grades? Well, that's true. But this isn't about Marvel Super Special #40. It's also not about the three-issue Labyrinth mini-series, either in direct market or newsstand. It's not even about any of Boom!'s Labyrinth spinoffs, although they've got plenty of convention covers and obscure promotional pieces that might qualify.

No, my entry in this contest is... this:

The sane first response is to ask what is that thing? So, Tokypop -- the manga publisher -- got the rights to do a manga-format spinoff of both Dark Crystal and Labyrinth, titled Legends of the Dark Crystal and Return to Labyrinth, respectively. Those are big, chonky manga books that can't be slabbed due to size. About the same time, Sony Pictures decided to release a three DVD box set, including those two films plus Mirrormask. It was a match made in marketing. Tokypop published this stiff cardboard cover preview flipbook -- from one side, an excerpt from their upcoming Legends of the Dark Crystal manga, and from the other side, a similar excerpt from Return to Labyrinth. Sony slipped the books into the box set's slipcase, and tacked a hastily-printed note to the back of the box saying that it included an exclusive preview comic. Presto -- a collectible, of a sort, is born.

This is deep in obscurity. The other books presented so far? Batman #209? 117 slabbed copies. Resurrection Man #1? 17 slabs, not counting the second printing. Western Crime Cases #4 -- okay, I'll give you that's a pretty unloved book right there -- still has four. This baby? Not on the census at all!

But I'm willing to concede that slab count (and total lack of market value...) may not be enough to push this advertising promo of a manga spinoff of a movie into the winner's circle. There's another reason I think it deserves its turn in encapsulation: its brother is lonely.

You see, early the following year, Sony decided to release a second batch of that 3 disc DVD box set. But in the interim, the first volume of the Legends of the Dark Crystal manga had actually released, so the preview flipbook wasn't technically a preview anymore. As a result, when Sony asked Tokyopop for another round of flipbooks, they hastily prepared a second version, with the excerpt of Legends of the Dark Crystal swapped out for an excerpt of Legends of the Dark Crystal volume 2! The two have very different cover designs, but are indistinguishable when viewed edge-on (like in sealed box sets). What does any of that have to do with this contest? Well...

I already have the second one slabbed.

You can probably count on your elbows the number of people in the world who care about these weird, obscure, promotional books. For what it's worth, they are quite hard to find, and survival rates from DVD set purchasers are approximately nil. MCS has only ever seen one copy of the first one, and zero of the second. But don't just think of this book for its rarity, its obscurity, its total lack of market value, or the lack of interest pretty much anyone has for movie spinoff spinoff promotionals. Think of this as your opportunity to help two long-separated relatives find happiness together in my slabbed collection of Labyrinth comics (and eventually this Registry set).

I have the Apple Banner from when I worked retail many moons ago of Jim Henson with Kermit.  This is a cool sub idea.

[Qalyar]

On 8/10/2021 at 3:45 PM, Crops068 said:

I have the Apple Banner from when I worked retail many moons ago of Jim Henson with Kermit.  This is a cool sub idea.

The big one that's like 15' long? That's a cool object.

[Crops068]

On 8/10/2021 at 3:54 PM, Qalyar said:

The big one that's like 15' long? That's a cool object.

That is the one.  When the store was being redone the crew came in and took down the 3 or 4 that were up and they were just gunna trash them.  I yoinked it quite quickly. 

(this on isn't mine I am took lazy to get it out to snap a picture)

[mytastebud]

Thank you for doing this and considering my book by Silver Wolf Comics Grips 1. In 1986 when this book was released I was fairly new to comic books. I was a Sophomore in a private all boy's high school (La Salle) worked as a waiter part time (Marie Calendars) and had the responsibility of carting my younger sister around in my FIAT spider. I was busy but I was also crazy about Wolverine X-Men and Batman. Didn't matter what it was if it had Wolverine at the time I would buy it. I had disposable income at the time and I bought multiple copies. I loved independents too (TMNT, Usagi Yojimbo etc) and saw this cover to Grips 1. Total Wolverine rip off: brown costume and the blades attached to the back of his hands. Opened the book at my local comic book store (Gary's Corner Book Store) and said yes. I took it home along with 20 other comics and read it. Here's where the story gets good in my opinion.

I was an honor student in math English and science. For honors English, we had to write a 1 page paper daily: type written, spaced yada yada yada and it had to be in the first person for this assignment. I was so busy with life at the time that I could not come up with content. I could not put pen to paper so I decided to baffle my teacher with BS. Plagiarism was a serious offense and I did not want to get caught. SO I decided to copy word for word the narration in Grips 1. I had to lose the bad language of course but it was an easy paper to write once I started with the following open which is on page 16

"The wind blew a mourning for the deeds to come. The earth knew what I did not, Perhaps it was speaking to me, warning me. Perhaps it was comforting me, reassuring me of my mission. I am the KNIGHT of darkness. I am death's pawn in the delivering of the evil souls and I love my work..." I took lots of different parts of the comic but to me this was the perfect start for my paper. When I was finished with the paper I loved it. I wrote it off in my mind as a perfect homage to the comic I loved. I was scared to death handing it in but I knew there was no possible way Mr. Koppleman  had read this book. I got an "A" of course and the teacher wrote a comment, "David you may have found your niche". I never did it again and never told my mom. I told my son recently because he starts High School tomorrow.

 

[ADAMANTIUM]

On 8/10/2021 at 6:23 PM, mytastebud said:

Thank you for doing this and considering my book by Silver Wolf Comics Grips 1. In 1986 when this book was released I was fairly new to comic books. I was a Sophomore in a private all boy's high school (La Salle) worked as a waiter part time (Marie Calendars) and had the responsibility of carting my younger sister around in my FIAT spider. I was busy but I was also crazy about Wolverine X-Men and Batman. Didn't matter what it was if it had Wolverine at the time I would buy it. I had disposable income at the time and I bought multiple copies. I loved independents too (TMNT, Usagi Yojimbo etc) and saw this cover to Grips 1. Total Wolverine rip off: brown costume and the blades attached to the back of his hands. Opened the book at my local comic book store (Gary's Corner Book Store) and said yes. I took it home along with 20 other comics and read it. Here's where the story gets good in my opinion.

I was an honor student in math English and science. For honors English, we had to write a 1 page paper daily: type written, spaced yada yada yada and it had to be in the first person for this assignment. I was so busy with life at the time that I could not come up with content. I could not put pen to paper so I decided to baffle my teacher with BS. Plagiarism was a serious offense and I did not want to get caught. SO I decided to copy word for word the narration in Grips 1. I had to lose the bad language of course but it was an easy paper to write once I started with the following open which is on page 16

"The wind blew a mourning for the deeds to come. The earth knew what I did not, Perhaps it was speaking to me, warning me. Perhaps it was comforting me, reassuring me of my mission. I am the KNIGHT of darkness. I am death's pawn in the delivering of the evil souls and I love my work..." I took lots of different parts of the comic but to me this was the perfect start for my paper. When I was finished with the paper I loved it. I wrote it off in my mind as a perfect homage to the comic I loved. I was scared to death handing it in but I knew there was no possible way Mr. Koppleman  had read this book. I got an "A" of course and the teacher wrote a comment, "David you may have found your niche". I never did it again and never told my mom. I told my son recently because he starts High School tomorrow.

 

Lol 

In college and in a business ethics class, there was a paper due on HR. I wrote about a big bang theory episode where it dealt with this the whole episode. I of course gave credit to the writers of the show, but formed the paper as "this is what is portrayed on network tv!"

I got a lot of quotes in and my teacher had not watched the show as the math and everything on it were too "simple" as he put it. My paper only went on to prove his beliefs, although he did say that he would watch that episode and use it in classes going forward

 

Edited August 10, 2021 by ADAMANTIUM

[Namtak]

Hi everybody!can i join?if so here is the one for me that i like,i love when stories can go every wich way it can and like the underdog for some reason,so storyteller character somewhat becomes the star of the comics, like the cryptkeeper!well this one never rose to that level and became more mysterious and a servent of stories the butler to batman.well this one is the librarian (lucien)of unwritten stories to his master morpheus(sandman)(how cool is that!).here is my comics of his first appearance that i cherish for almost 15 years!when it was disregard as an ordinaire comics.here is my ghastly castle 1!

Edited August 11, 2021 by Namtak

[ADAMANTIUM]

On 8/10/2021 at 7:12 PM, Namtak said:

Hi everybody!can i join?if so here is the one for me that i like,i love when stories can go every wich way it can and like the underdog for some reason,so storyteller character somewhat becomes the star of the comics, like the cryptkeeper!well myne never rose to that level and became more mysterious and a servent of stories the butler to batman.well this one is the librarian of un written stories to his master morpheus(sandman)(how cool is that!).here is my comics of his first appearance that i cherish for almost 15 years!when it was disregard as an ordinaire comics.here is my ghastly castle 1!

So cool, I always loved these kinds of covers!

[Namtak]

On 8/10/2021 at 8:15 PM, ADAMANTIUM said:

So cool, I always loved these kinds of covers!

Me too! When i bought it with glowing eyes the seller said to me :you know you are the first to notice that book wondered when i would get rid of it.

 

Thats what he said!well i could not have been any happier  even if the book at the time wasnt popular.

[ADAMANTIUM]

yes @Namtak you're allowed an entry,